A steady stream of mixed messages about the goals and timeline of the United States' operation in Iran has left much of the US public and allies scratching their heads.
The Trump administration's talking points have been a moving target, with conflicting takes from the president and his officials as to why it started, and how and when it is going to end.
Since the beginning of March, President Donald Trump has stated over a dozen times that the war will be wrapped up soon as he repeatedly hails US military successes in Iran.
If anyone was hoping to get a more substantial and detailed case last night during the president's roughly 20-minute prime time address to the nation, it did not happen.
Uncharacteristically sticking to his script, Mr Trump defended his decision to bomb Iran to the millions of Americans watching at home.
However, that defence contained no new information nor was it a rallying cry to the American public to rally around the flag.
Mostly, it was a greatest hits compilation of his Truth Social posts since this operation was launched on 28 February, projecting military greatness and success, hailing regime change and taking digs at allies.
"Never in the history of warfare has an enemy suffered such clear and devastating, large-scale losses in a matter of weeks," he said.
There was a mention of a timeline.
He said the war will be over in around two to three weeks and the operation will "finish very fast".
But if Mr Trump wanted to convince Americans that this was his clue that he was winding down the war, it was far from clear as de-escalation efforts were soon followed with threats of escalation.
He said: "I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America's military objectives shortly, very shortly.
"We are going to hit them extremely hard.
"Over the next two to three weeks, we are going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.
"In the meantime, discussions are ongoing."
What was clear from the address was that Mr Trump wanted to speak to the American public, rather than publicly negotiate with Iranians through the airwaves. There was no announcement of a breakthrough with Iran, nor an offer.
There were just more warnings that Tehran's energy could be destroyed "if there is no deal", he said.
The US president said: "We are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously.
"We have not hit their oil even though that's the easiest target of all because it would not give them even a small chance of survival or rebuilding.
"But we could hit it and it would be gone, and there's not a thing they could do about it."
While negotiations are not off the table, it appears neither is the use of thousands of US troops now stationed in the Middle East.
Mr Trump's speech did make it blatantly obvious that he is aware of how Americans, and a growing number of Republicans, are worrying over rising energy prices as the average national price of gas symbolically went over $4 per gallon this week.
Concerns and unease are growing within the GOP that these increasing costs are eating into tax break gains that are central to the Republican economic agenda ahead of the midterm elections.
"We had to take that little journey to Iran to get rid of this horrible threat with our historic tax cuts, where people are just now talking about receiving larger refunds than they ever thought possible," President Trump said.
He added: "They are getting so much more money than they thought.
"That's from the great Big Beautiful Bill.
"Our economy is strong and improving by the day, and it will soon be roaring back like never before.
"It will top the levels that it was a month ago."
It is difficult to see how Americans went to bed after this address with a better picture of the off-ramp that many were expecting.
The president's case last night appeared to be old wine in new bottles.
His vague outline of the war's aims and ultimate endpoint may reinforce public uncertainty about whether a credible exit strategy truly exists.
